Last Call: Sweet Beginnings for 2012

TIM MCNALLY

SARA ESSEX BRADLEY PHOTOGRAPH

Somewhere around the middle of the month, when memories of Sugar Bowl and – this year – the BCS Championship are in their final moments on your mind, a Louisiana treasure will hopefully be making its annual appearance.

Blood oranges are January crops, sometimes stunted by an early blast of arctic weather, but when they proceed to complete maturity they’re wonderfully succulent and sweet. Plaquemines Parish, practically next door, is our state’s citrus fruit basket and the birthplace of Louisiana blood oranges.

We truly hope for a bumper crop this year because here’s the perfect cocktail to enjoy blood oranges – assuming you’re a cocktail lover, and an avid fan of Louisiana citrus. (Of course you are!)